|
A father's love -- or the lack of it --
contributes as much to the development of a child's personality
and behavior as the love of a mother, according to researchers.
In some respects, they add, a father's love is even more influential.
Probably the most important and most surprising finding of
all is that the importance of mother love seems to drop out
altogether in some of the analyses.
The researchers reviewed almost 100 US
and European studies investigating the effects of parenting
on the psychology and behavior of children as they grew older.
The earliest study was conducted in 1949, and the most recent
was completed in 2001.
They report that the degree of acceptance
or rejection a child receives -- and perceives -- from his
or her father appears to affect his or her development as
deeply as the presence or absence of a mother's love.
They note that the withholding of love
by either the mother or the father is equally connected to
a child's lack of self-esteem, emotional instability, withdrawal,
depression and anxiety. And the risk of developing problems
with aggression, drug and alcohol abuse, and delinquency was
equally related to a child's rejection or acceptance by either
parent.
The investigators also found that having
the love and nurturing of either parent has an equally positive
effect on a child's happiness, well-being and social
and academic success from early childhood through young adulthood.
The team further found that in certain
instances, the love of a father plays an even more important
role than that of the mother. Many studies found a father's
love to be the sole determining factor when it came to a child's
problems with personality, conduct, delinquency or substance
abuse.
The researchers don't want to suggest
that a mother's love is less important than the love of a
father. The research reveals an American cultural bias to
overemphasize the role the mother plays in raising her children,
at the expense of understanding and appreciating the equally
crucial role of the father.
In certain aspects, father's love seems
to have a particularly strong influence. So it seems clear
that we have to move away from mother-bashing: assuming somehow
that the mother is completely at fault for all the problems
of her kids. And, hopefully, this information will encourage
fathers all over the country to become more involved with
their kids.
Review
of General Psychology December 2001;5:382-405
| 